Make A Wish
by lit1586
Summary: Aria's mother plans her a party for her birthday, but what happens when Ezra becomes a guest?
1. Chapter 1

Aria Montgomery laid in her bed silently twisting a stray piece of hair around her finger, as she stared up at the wooden beams of her ceiling. She had hoped to be spending her birthday night alone with Ezra at some fancy restaurant or having an intimate dinner at his apartment, but her mother had other plans. She had been planning a party for Aria for a month now and invited half of Rosewood High to their house tonight. The only person that was not attending was the one person that she wanted there, Ezra.

Aria sighed as Ella's distant voice called from the bottom of the steps, "Aria! Can you come down and help me set up?"

"Sure Mom." Aria stood and prepared herself. She had to spend the entire night pretending that this party was the best birthday she'd ever had.

Truth be told, she did appreciate all the work her mother had done to give her a great party. It wasn't Ella's fault that she didn't know about her relationship. She had been trying to get Ezra to go public ever since he started working at Hollis, but he just wasn't ready yet.

Aria entered the kitchen to find food, trays and bowls everywhere. Ella appeared to be dressed and ready for the party, but had thrown an apron over her clothes and was now feverishly slicing a block of cheese for the cheese and cracker tray.

She looked up as Aria entered, "Oh good. I really need you to grab some of those bowls off the table and dump the chips in. I got a few different kinds, so we have a nice selection. Also there are salsas and dips in the fridge, so after you do the chips could you please get some of the tiny glass bowls from the cabinet above the toaster and put those in there. Then…."

"Mom." Aria called, stopping her seemingly endless ramble. "Let's slow down and do one thing at a time. Everything looks great. Don't worry."

Ella smiled with amusement as she realized how crazed she must seem. "I just want your party to be a success."

Aria grabbed the first bag of chip and pulled it open. "It will

"Good." Ella smirked and took a sample bite of the cheese. The door bell rang.

"I thought the party doesn't start until 8:00. It's only 7:30." Aria pointed out with confusion.

"It doesn't. That's my friend Sara." Ella replied, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "I hope you don't mind, but your father and I have a few friends coming over as well. We want to stay out of your hair though, so we'll be in the other room all night."

"Yea That's fine. As long as they don't try to join in on the keg stands." Aria joked.

Ella rolled her eyes with a smirk, "Very funny."

She disappeared from the kitchen to open the door and returned minutes later with Sara in tow. Aria was surprised to find a tall, thin young women with a short blonde hair and big blue eyes. The girl was dressed in dark blue jeans, a hot pink top and knee high leather boots.

When Ella said she had a friend coming, Aria had expected someone closer to her mother's age. Sara looked like she was closer to Aria's age than Ella's.

"This is Sara." Ella introduced and Sara reached out to shake hands. Aria accepted with a polite smile.

"It's nice to meet you. Happy Birthday!" Sara's voice was bubbly and sweet.

"Thanks." Before Aria could say another word, Sara was already mid-conversation with Ella. She obviously had no interest in getting to know Aria any further.

"I'm so excited to finally get to hang out with you and Byron!" Sara exclaimed, as she accepted a glass of wine from Ella and took a sip.

"Us too. We've been talking about it for ages." Ella agreed, than looked over at Aria. "Sara and I met at one of your Dad's Hollis faculty events and hit it off right away."

"You're parents are always so busy. It's impossible to make plans with them." Sara added, once again preventing Aria from getting a word out. "I have to say though, I am really excited to meet this guy you've got picked out for me."

Ella's eyes widen in excitement, "You're going to love him. He's handsome, intelligent and well-read. He writes. If I weren't married, I might have taken him for myself."

Aria felt her heart begin to beat rapidly, "Wait, what are talking about?"

"Sara just broke up with her boyfriend of 4 years, so I thought she could use a little distraction. Your Dad invited Mr. Fitz over for the night, so I figured he could be the perfect distraction." Ella explained.

Aria's mind was on overload. So now Ezra would be here for her party like she was wishing, but he would be on a blind date with another girl. This was the opposite of a birthday present. This was a birthday slap in the face.

Aria scanned Sara once again. This girl was not even close to being Ezra's type and, besides, he was not available. "Mom, don't you think it's going to be awkward for my friends to have Mr. Fitz at my party."

"They won't even see him. I promise."

"Did he agree to this?" Aria asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Ella shrugged, "Not exactly. "

Aria lifted an eyebrow, "Not exactly? What does that mean?"

"Ezra approached your father yesterday and invited him out for drinks tonight. Of course, he couldn't because it's your birthday, but he figured it would be nice to invite him over here." Ella clarified, "Ezra doesn't know. All he knows is that we have other friends coming as well."

Aria clenched her fingers behind her back as her cell phone chimed. She quickly pulled it out of her pocket and read the screen. It was a text from Ezra:

Happy Birthday! I've got a surprise for you. – EZ

Aria frowned. She knew he had set up this whole situation just so that he could be there for her birthday party and now it was ruined. She hit the reply button:

I've got an even bigger surprise for you. – Aria


	2. Chapter 2

**An: Wow thanks for the reviews everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 2

As soon as Aria hit send, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." She announced and rushed for the door without giving her mother a chance to respond.

When she pulled it open, she found Ezra standing on the other side, grinning from ear to ear.

"Surprise." He was obviously proud of himself for making Aria's wish come true and being able to come to the party after all.

Aria wished that she could have enjoyed this moment, but she knew she had to warn him. She looked around, gave him a quick kiss and then pulled away, "I love you for this, but my mom is setting you up with her friend."

"What?" Before Ezra could process her warning, Ella and Sara emerged from the kitchen.

"Ezra! I'm so glad you could make it." Ella greeted him with a hug, "I would love for you to meet my good friend, Sara. Sara, this is Ezra Fitz."

"Ezra. It's great to finally meet you. Ella has been telling me all about you." Sara extended her hand gracefully to accept his handshake and held it there for much longer than she had with Aria.

Ezra looked uncomfortable. It was an odd feeling to be meeting your blind date right in front of your girlfriend. "All good things I hope."

"Great, actually."

"No bad things to tell." Ella interjected, "Ezra is a great guy."

Aria cleared her throat, "Unless you believe those rumors that were going around school last year."

"Aria." Ella narrowed her eyes, confused by her daughter's comment. As far as she was concerned, Mr. Fitz had been Aria's favorite teacher.

"What's that Ezra?" Sara asked, pointing to a small, rectangular object wrapped in newspaper.

"Oh. It's for Aria." He held up the gift, "You're Dad told me it's your birthday, so I got you a little something."

Ella smiled with delight, as Aria accepted the present, "That is so sweet." She complimented, "I told you he's great."

Ezra stared down into Aria's eyes, "I'm sorry I didn't have time to get real wrapping paper. I just found out yesterday…"

Aria smirked at his cover up. He had purposely wrapped the present in newspaper to make it seem like it was an afterthought.

"Thank you. I'll open it later." She wanted to wait until they were together.

Ella interrupted their gaze, oblivious to the underlying intimacy of the interaction. "Aria, you should go upstairs and finish getting ready. You're friends will be here any minute." Ella motioned for Ezra and Sara to follow her back into the kitchen, "Don't worry the adults will keep to themselves."

Aria bit her lip tentatively as they walked away. Before disappearing into the kitchen, Ezra looked back and gave her a reassuring smile, but it didn't help

Aria didn't waste any time getting ready. She was never the type of girl to take hours to get ready, but tonight was a record. She got dressed, did her hair, threw on some make-up and was downstairs in less than ten minutes.

She didn't want to miss the match making scheme that her mother had planned for Ezra and Sara.

Aria entered the kitchen to find that Ella had already 'conveniently' left the room to give the happy couple some alone time.

"You have to try this. It's amazing." Sara told Ezra as she held up of Ella's many appetizers for Ezra to take a bite of.

"Oh umm thanks." Ezra struggled; awkwardly taking the food out of her hands and taking a bite. Sara stared at him intently waiting for his reaction as if he was a food critic and she was the chef. "Very good." He nodded.

Sara laughed. "You've got a crumb." She reached over and wiped it from his chin.

Ezra wiped it again, even though she already had. "I hate when that happens."

"It's okay. It was cute."

Aria cleared her throat to announce her presence and Ezra immediately straightened, afraid that he would somehow indicate an interest in Sara if he were relaxed around her.

"Hope I didn't interrupt anything." Aria apologized.

"No. Nothing." Ezra stammered watching his girlfriend cross the room and grab a cracker from the tray in front of him. "You look amazing." He complimented, losing himself for a moment.

"Thank you." She smiled warmly, taking a bite of the cracker and looking over at Sara who seemed confused.

"I mean…you're the birthday girl, so you should…look amazing." He quickly added, but not so smoothly.

"I get it, Mr. Fitz."

"Right." He looked down at the display of food. "Hey, look, barbeque chips."

"Sorry about that. I just had to get that other bag of ice." Ella lied as she entered the room and frowned to find Aria had interrupted their alone time.

"Ice is important. I love the cold." Sara commented. "Skiing is probably one of my favorite things to do. I take a vacation to Vermont every winter with my family. Do you ski Ezra?"

Aria did her best to hold back her laughter. Had she really just associate ice cubes with skiing in order to talk about herself?

"I've never been." Ezra shook his head politely, but Aria could tell he was also laughing inside.

Sara placed her hand on his wrist, "I'll have to teach you."

"Didn't you say in class one time that you hate the snow, Mr. Fitz?" Aria interjected, eyeing Sara's hand on her boyfriend and willing it to move.

"That is true. Winter is not really my season." He nodded.

"Oh. Well, we can find something else to do then."

"Aria, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ella requested.

"Of course". Aria agreed, following her mother out into the living room.

"Can you ease up a little? Sara just got out of a really rough break up and she trying to move on. That is a tough thing to do and you're not making it any easier."

"I'm sorry. I was just joking." Aria shrugged, trying to seem innocent.

"Well, cut it out." She warned as the doorbell rang. "There are your first guests. I'm going to get your Dad from upstairs so that we can get Ezra and Sara out of your way."

Aria sighed. Why did her life have to be so complicated?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As her mother climbed the stairs to get her dad, Aria opened the front door to find Spencer and Emily waiting. She breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't ready to entertain any guests yet.

"I'm so glad it's you."

"Why? What's up?" Emily questioned, as the girls entered the house.

"My parents invited Ezra."

"Isn't that a good thing? You were all bummed that you weren't going to see him." Spencer pointed out.

"Yeah. I love that Ezra's here. What I don't love is his date."

"He brought a date?" Emily exclaimed as loud as she could in a whisper.

"No. My mom invited her friend to set her up with him." Aria explained.

"What are you going to do?"

"There's nothing I can do." She sighed with a defeated shrug.

Before the girls could reply, Ella and Byron came down the stairs.

"Hello girls." Byron greeted, "Don't mind us. We are going to leave you kids alone for the night."

Emily and Spencer smiled back at him as he made his way into the kitchen to greet Ezra and Sara.

"Where's Hanna tonight?" Ella wondered.

"Her boyfriend, Caleb, is visiting from California. They will be here in a little while." Emily explained.

"Well, good. I'm glad." Ella grinned, "We're going to head into the den now that your guests are arriving Aria. Be good girls."

"We will." They all called simultaneously as Ella joined Byron, Ezra and Sara in the kitchen.

Half an hour later, almost every one of Aria's friends had arrived. The living room and kitchen were packed from wall to wall with her classmates and some of Mike's friends that Ella had allowed him to invite. Luckily, it was a beautiful night, so the party also extended onto the back porch.

Surprisingly, Aria actually found herself enjoying it, despite the fact that her parents were in the other room pimping out her boyfriend to another girl. She was confident enough in her relationship to feel secure, but she didn't know Sara and didn't trust her.

"What do you think they are doing?" Aria asked Spencer and Emily, while biting nervously at her nail.

"They probably offered Ezra and Sara their bedroom for the night." Spencer attempted to joke.

Aria glared at her friend, "Not funny."

"Go in there if you're so worried." Emily offered.

"I'm not worried. I trust Ezra."

Spencer grabbed Aria's hand and pulled it away from her mouth, showing her the chewed up nails on her finger. "Are you sure?"

"I guess I could make up some reason to go in there. Just to check." Aria concluded. Spencer and Emily nodded.

Spencer looked around the room, left their private corner and grabbed a bowl out of on Mike's hand. "Sorry. I need this."

"Here. Maybe they need their snacks refreshed." She handed Aria the bowl and she smiled.

"This is why I love you." Aria laughed, heading towards the den.

As she approached, she could hear laughter coming from the room. It sounded like her mom and Sara. She cringed and hesitated for a minute, unsure if she really wanted to go in there.

But she knew that if she didn't she would be thinking about it the whole night, so she took a deep breath and stepped into the doorway.

Aria's heart stopped when she looked at the couch to find Ezra and Sara sitting closely together.

Her father looked up from his drink, "Aria."

As soon as he was aware of her presence, Ezra instinctively shot up from his seat.

Ella and Byron looked over at Ezra with concern. "Are you okay?" Byron asked.

"Yea. Sorry. I'm fine. I just thought I saw a spider on my arm." He told them, "I have a phobia." He added weakly, feeling like a wimp after using that excuse.

"Do you need something, honey?" Ella asked.

"I…uh…I was just wondering if you needed anything in here." She lied, holding the bowl out and feeling like an idiot.

"We're fine. Thank you for thinking of us though."

"Okay. I should get back to the party now." Aria couldn't get out of there fast enough.

As soon as she was out of sight, she leaned her body heavily against the cold wall and closed her eyes. She had been expecting to find Ezra across the room, as far away from Sara a possible. Not practically on her lap.

She opened her eyes when her phone went off.

It was a text from Ezra:

I'm sorry. She won't leave me alone. Don't be mad. - EF

Aria closed her phone without a reply and headed back to the party. Going in there had made things even worse.

Before Aria could find Spencer and Emily again to tell them what happened, she felt herself being pulled past a line of waiting people and into the bathroom.

"So, I show up an hour late and everything is going to hell?" Hanna complained, closing the door behind them.

"Hanna. What are you doing?"

"I talked to Em and Spencer." She explained. "Ezra is here…on a date…in the other room…right now."

"Yes. I know. I'm painfully aware."

"How could you let that happen?"

"What was I supposed to do? Walk up to my mom and say 'Hey you probably shouldn't set my ex-english teacher up with that girl, because he's my secret boyfriend'."

"Uh yea! It's about time you tell your parents anyway." Hanna exclaimed.

"It's not that easy, Hanna. He's not ready and I can't change that."

Hanna sighed with frustration, "You two have the most messed up relationship that ever existed."

"Believe me, I know"

Before Hanna could go on ranting, the bathroom door swung open. The girls turned to find Spencer and Emily. "You've got some angry people with full bladders in line out there."

"We're coming out now." Aria began to walk towards the door, but Spencer held her hand up to stop her.

"Before you do, you should know Jason is here."

"My mom invited Jason?"

Hanna let out an amused laugh, "Messed up", she reiterated, as she glided past Aria and rejoined the party.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As soon as Aria and the girls exited the bathroom, she heard someone yell "Aria" from across the room.

It was Jason. She wondered if he had been sitting there waiting for her to come out of the bathroom the entire time. Part of her still wondered if he had told the truth about the photos of her being taken by Alison.

She pretended not to hear him and continued walking with her friends, but he quickly caught up.

"Jason. Hi." She glanced over at Spencer, Emily and Hanna. "I'll be right there." They hesitated for a second, but finally left Jason and Aria alone to talk.

"I didn't know you were coming." She told him.

"Mike invited me."

Aria nodded, feeling awkward, "I should get back to my friends, but thanks for coming." She gave him a polite smile and turned to walk away.

"Wait." He grabbed her arm to stop her. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Aria looked down at her arm in his grip and he let go, "We just talked."

Jason stared at her, "It's loud in here. Can we go outside?"

Aria sighed, "Jason, nothing good can come out of me talking to you outside. "

"I just have one thing to say. Give me two minutes. Just listen. You don't have to say anything back." He reasoned.

Before Aria could answer, she felt someone grab her arm. "Aria." Spencer interrupted. "You have to come with me right now! It's important." She ordered, grabbing Aria by the hand and pulling her away without waiting for a response.

"Spencer, where are we going?" Aria questioned, as she was dragged through the living room and up the stairs. They finally stopped in the hallway outside of Aria's bedroom door. "What's going on? Is it 'A'?"

"No. I needed to get you away from him."

"You don't need to save me from Jason. I can handle him." Aria protested.

"I know you can, but you shouldn't." She warned, "Beside I want to give you your birthday present and I only have a few minutes to do it."

"Why? Are you leaving?"

"No. Let's just say it's time sensitive." She smirked, turning Aria's doorknob and pushing the door open to reveal Ezra standing there with one hand tucked casually in his pant pocket and the other holding a red rose.

"Spence…how did you?"

"There are benefits to Ezra knowing that you told us." Spencer replied, shoving Aria towards her room. "Now go."

Aria gave her a thankful smile as she slowly closed the door and flipped the lock. She turned and leaned against the door, staring into Ezra's eyes.

"This is my official 'Happy Birthday'" He told her, holding out the rose.

Aria pushed herself gently off the door, took the flower from him and stood on her tiptoes to press her lips firmly against his. "Thank you."

"I wanted to make all of your wishes came true." He told her, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm just sorry it got messed up."

"Stop talking." She whispered and pressed her lips hard against his.

"I should do stuff like this more often if this is what happens." He observed, lacing his fingers into her hair and kissing her harder.

Aria accepted eagerly. Without taking her lips from his, she led him towards her bed and they fell backward. Even after almost a year, her heart still fluttered at the feeling of his body against hers.

Their entire relationship up until now had consisted solely of these types of interactions. Kissing and cuddling and touching.

Maybe it was because she was another year older or maybe it had something to do with Sara and Jason threatening their relationship downstairs, but she felt compelled to move their relationship forward. Right now.

She let her fingers roam to the hem of his shirt and began to lift it slowly up his back, tracing his skin with her finger tips as she went.

"Aria. Wait." Ezra grabbed her hand to stop it.

"We've waited long enough Ezra."

Ezra let out a sigh and buried his face in her neck, kissing it lightly before looking into her eyes. "Believe me. I don't want to stop, but I have to get back downstairs before your parents wonder why I've been in the bathroom so long."

"I don't care." She leaned up to kiss him again, but he refused.

He sat up. "What is going on? This isn't like you."

Aria sighed and sat up as well. She knew he was right, "I don't know… between Sara and Jason being here, I'm feeling particularly insecure about our relationship tonight."

"Jason is here?" Ezra's voice reeked of anger and jealousy.

"I didn't invite him. Mike did."

"Should I be worried?" He asked.

Aria stood up quickly, "Of course not."

"Then why does him being here make you insecure about our relationship?" He questioned, stand up to face her.

She was quiet for a second, "I don't know."

Ezra nodded with understanding. It was obvious that some part of Aria had a crush on Jason. If she didn't, she never would have kissed him back when he kissed her.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come." Ezra began to walk towards the door.

"Ezra, wait, please." Aria called. He stopped and turned to look into her eyes. "I love you. I don't want to have these feelings…"

"But you do." He stated matter-of-factly.

He waited for her to deny it. She didn't. Ezra took a deep breath and nodded before opening the door and walking out.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you for all of the great reviews! I am glad people are reading and enjoying the story. This chapter is a little short, but I wanted to get one posted this weekend.

Chapter 5:

Ezra stormed down the steps only to find Ella at the bottom. "Ezra, I was just looking for you. Did you find the bathroom alright?"

"Yeah. I…" He stumbled and pulled at his shirt to make sure it wasn't messed up, "I'm not feeling very well. I'll have to take a rain check for the rest of the night."

"Oh That's a shame. Sara really seemed to like you." Ella frowned, "I'll go get her so you can say good-bye."

"Actually, I'm feeling pretty bad, but tell her and Byron I said good-night and thank you." He refused her offer and didn't wait for a response before pushing past her and rushing out the door.

Ella stared at the door with confusion. It wasn't like Ezra to be so abrupt and dismissive. Before she had another second to contemplate his behavior Aria came flying down the steps, seemingly on a mission. "Aria. Is everything okay?"

Aria didn't bother to reply. Instead, she walked straight past her and out the front door.

Once outside, Aria was disoriented by the amount of cars surrounding her house. She wondered how she would find Ezra's car before he got away.

Luckily, at the moment, she heard a beep and saw a flashing headlight just across the street. In the dark she could just make out Ezra silhouette.

"Ezra, wait!" She yelled loud enough for him to hear from her front step. She didn't hesitate or look around to see who might be a witness, because she didn't care much at the moment. She ran towards his car.

Ezra ignored her call as he made his way to the driver's side door and went to pull it open just as she reached him.

"Stop. You're not leaving." She ordered, pushing his door closed.

"Why? Why should I make myself look like fool while you pine away for Jason?"

"I'm not pining. I'm just feeling something that I can't help. Something I don't want to feel. Believe me."

Ezra stared at her. "I gave up way too much for you to lose you to some other guy."

"You're right." She agreed.

"So what does that mean for us?"

"We may have been together for less than a year, but we've already been through more than most couples ever go through." She pointed out. "Noel, Simone, Jackie, you leaving town…then there's that whole student/teacher thing." She tried to joke, but he wasn't buying it. "We went through all of that and we are still here. That should say something."

Ezra stared down at the ground, "Maybe a relationship with this many obstacles shouldn't exist."

Aria bit her lip, feeling tears begin to well up in her eyes. "You don't mean that."

"What else should I conclude from all of this?"

"Ezra, all of our problems could be solved with one action." She told him with anger in her voice, "But you're not willing to solve them."

"Fine. Let's go tell your parents then." He looked up, locking eyes with her.

"Are you serious? Right now?" She swallowed hard.

Ezra nodded. "Yes. Right now, if that's going to solve everything."

"I have a house full of people and a majority of them are your former students." Aria pointed out in astonishment that he was even proposing this.

"Exactly. Telling people will only bring more problems, not less."

"Ezra…" She had no argument.

"I should go." He sighed, pressing his lips softly against her forehead. "I'll talk to you in a few days. I need some time to think."

Ezra opened the driver's door and climbed in, starting the engine. Aria knocked on the window and he paused for a second before rolling it down.

"I love you, Ezra. Nothing and no one can change that." She told him sincerely.

"I hope that's true." He replied, as she stepped away from the car and allowed him to drive away into the darkness.

Aria felt a sudden chill pour over her. He was upset and it was understandable, but she knew he would come around. They both knew that it was impossible to stay away from one another. At least, she hoped.

As Aria made her way back towards the house, she noticed that the front door was wide open. She could have sworn she had closed it. In the door frame she could just make out a still figure staring in her direction.

It was Mike.

"Mike." Was the only word that Aria could muster as she approached him.

"Mom asked me to come to see if you were okay. She said you looked upset." He told her.

"I'm fine." Aria swallowed hard and hugged her arms across her chest, "It's cold and I should get back to the party."

Without another world, she averted her eyes to the ground and hurried back into the house. She didn't know if he had seen any of her interaction with Ezra, but she was too afraid to ask. She wasn't ready for this to come out, especially after the night she was having.

As soon as she rejoined the party a familiar voice called her name once again. It was Jason.

"Aria. There you are." He approached her once again. It creeped her out how he was always there waiting in the wings for her to appear. "Is everything okay with Spencer?"

"Spencer?" She repeated, still distracted by her fight with Ezra and her subsequent interaction with Mike.

"Yeah. She pulled you away before. She seemed worried." He reminded her.

"Oh. That." She remembered, "That was nothing. Just guy problems." She lied.

"I thought she might be trying to get you away from me."

He was certainly perceptive.

"No. She wasn't." Aria shook her head.

Jason smirked with disbelief. "Well, now that your friends aren't around to interrupt, can we go outside and talk?"

Aria frowned. The last 15 minutes or so had made it painfully clear to her just how much she was about to lose for a meaningless crush. She couldn't let that happen.

"This really isn't a good time." She refused.

"Okay. When will be a good time?"

Aria stared up at him, "There won't be. I'm sorry."

Before he could get a chance to respond, she pushed passed him, climbed the stairs and entered her bedroom, locking the door behind herself.

Letting herself fall onto her bed, she pulled out her phone and hit speed dial for Ezra's cell phone. It went straight to voice mail. She decided to leave a message.

"Hi. It's me. I really need to talk to you. It's important." She paused, "I think my brother knows."


End file.
